Since they formed in 2013, Alex Napping have been grounded in Alex Cohen’s sharp songwriting sensibilities. Their most recent release, last year’s Trembles EP, was inspired by a short story that Cohen wrote, and their forthcoming sophomore album, Mise En Place, hangs onto that same deference to narrative thrust while containing some of the group’s strongest songs to date. “Living Room,” the album’s lead single, is a wistful breakdown about the spaces we create for ourselves, both literal and metaphorical, and what happens when we want to or plan for someone else to move in. “There’s a living room/ Filled with all of our stuff/ I can’t get it to move/ Without unsettling dust,” Cohen sings.

“‘Living Room’ can be viewed as a sort of thesis track for the record,” she explains. “It’s about an imbalance rearing its head in a relationship because the two parties failed to create the same amount of space. More broadly, it’s an expression of guilt and personal frustration during a time when I struggled to consistently make decisions that weren’t somehow compromising myself or my best interests.”